Wolfgang Van Halen, Valerie Bertinelli trash Eddie Van Halen death doc

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Wolfgang Van Halen and his mother, Valerie Bertinelli, have hit out at a TV documentary special purporting to delve into the final hours of Eddie Van Halen before he died in October 2020.

“F— Reelz Channel, f— everyone that works on this show, and f— you if you watch it. F—ing disgusting trying to glamorize someone’s death from cancer,” tweeted Wolfgang.

Wolfgang, played bass alongside his father in the band Van Halen from 2006 and onward, was responding to a tweet from Blabbermouth announcing the premiere of Autopsy: The Last Hours Of Eddie Van Halen this Sunday.

Bertinelli, who split from Eddie in 2002 after 21 years of marriage, replied to her son’s tweet, writing, “Good Christ this is disgusting.”

Autopsy: The Last Hours Of…, which airs on the Reelz network in the U.S., probes celebrity deaths.

According to Variety, the episode devoted to Eddie will expose his life as a workaholic and uncover his struggle with substance abuse. “If caught early Eddie’s disease had reasonable survival rates, so what exactly happened? Now renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter will analyze every detail of his life in order to piece together what else may have been going on in his body, ultimately leading to his untimely death,” a description reads.

In its response to the criticism the Reelz channel said, “Autopsy: The Last Hours of… responsibly explores the circumstances of the passing of well known and genuinely loved celebrities who the public cares about immensely. The Reelz series generates much feedback from our viewers ranging from medical professionals who praise its scientific accuracy, fans who tell us it provides closure or that they have become more proactive for the benefit of their health and many who gain helpful perspective of health issues that might not otherwise receive attention like Karen Carpenter who brought anorexia into the public consciousness, Prince whose passing focused attention on the opioid epidemic, and Luke Perry, whose passing renewed attention to strokes that affect people of all ages.”

On social media, Van Halen fans blasted the upcoming episode with Wolfgang’s tweet generating hundreds of responses.

“Definitely would NEVER watch this! Sorry you have to go through stuff like this, Wolf!” one person wrote, while another called the program, “Really sick and sad.”

Although Bertinelli and Eddie divorced in 2007, she maintained a close relationship with the rocker. Earlier this year, she revealed his final words in her memoir, Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today.

“‘I love you’ are the last words Ed says to Wolfie and me, and they are the last words we say to him before he stops breathing,” she wrote.

mdaniell@postmedia.com